Following is an advance release of Ed Koch's Bloomberg Radio Commentary for Oct. 11

My commentary will be devoted to a discussion of two men Ñ Arnold Schwarzenegger and Robert Novak.

First, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is running for governor of California in todayÕs recall election in that state and who among the 135 contestants will be chosen to follow the current governor, Gray Davis.

My own view is that recall should be defeated and those who hold Davis responsible for the financial plight of the state should vote him out in the next general election in 2006. I believe that unless Davis and the legislators in the balance of their current terms have been spectacularly good making up for their past failures, they should be voted out of office with the election of a fresh crew.

Why vote against Schwarzenegger? If Californians vote him in after the revelations of his groping at least 15 women who have come forward to describe his placing his hands on their breasts, buttocks and, on occasion, under their dresses, all without permission, which in a recent statement he admitted to in part, while claiming he couldnÕt remember some of the incidents, the voters of California will be the laughing stock of America.

That is particularly true because of the revelation of comments he made while making the documentary, Pumping Iron, in 1977. Under attack, Schwarzenegger produced for the media a 33-page transcript of an interview he gave at the time. Following are passages from the interview:

ÒI admired Hitler for instance because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education up to power. And I admire him for being such a good public speaker and for his way of getting to the people and so on. But I didnÕt admire him for what he did with it.Ó

ÒBecause I feel that a certain amount of people who were meant to do this and control, and a large amount, like 95 percent of the people who we have to tell what to do and how to keep order.Ó

ÒI feel if you want to create a strong nation and a strong country you cannot let everybody be an individualÉThen you have to tell people what to do and you canÕt just let them float away. In Germany there was a lot of unity. The German soldiers were the best, and with the police force and everything.Ó

Schwarzenegger Ôs wife, Maria Shriver, according to The New York Times, Òdefended him from accusations that he had made unwanted sexual advances to women.Ó Her defense is that he showed great courage in apologizing. It is important when an apology occurs. Does it come as the result of self-revelation with evident contrition and penance, or does it come when the victims, as here, make the incidents public?

If Californians forgive Schwarzenegger his sexual predator behavior and support a leader who believes American individuality should be crushed, they deserve to become the permanent butt of the nationÕs TV comedians. WeÕll know shortly.

The other person, currently less well known, and more impacting on the TV watching and reading public, is columnist Bob Novak who has been on the scene for more than 20 years. What Novak recently did should bring down upon him the condemnation of all Americans and especially of every American journalist. In his July 14th column, in discussing the involvement of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson in the investigation by the CIA of whether or not Iraq had sought to purchase uranium from Niger in Africa, who concluded it had not and so reported to the CIA, Novak wrote that WilsonÕs wife, ÒValerie Plame, is an agency operative [covert CIA] on weapons of mass destruction.Ó

Disclosing PlameÕs role, had it been done by anyone in government, would call for criminal sanctions. That law, unlike similar laws in Great Britain, does not apply to non-government employees. Novak says he got the information Òinterviewing a senior administration official,Ó and that Òanother senior official told me the same thing.Ó

It isnÕt known whether those officials are in the White House or at the CIA. Ambassador Wilson has named as one of the leakers Karl Rove, and voiced the hope Rove would be taken from the White House in Òhandcuffs,Ó which view he recently recanted. President Bush has ordered that the Department of Justice begin an inquiry to determine who the leakers were. The Congressional democratic leadership quite rightly demands that a special counsel be designated to lead the probe.

The White House and Attorney General John Ashcroft have declined to do so, stating that the Department of Justice is authorized to conduct the investigation. Alberto Gonzalez, the PresidentÕs counsel, has informed all White House employees that Òanyone who does not immediately produce relevant documents is risking an obstruction of justice charge.Ó

Nevertheless, the Democrats and Republicans jointly in Congress concluded the special prosecutor law passed in 1978 used to investigate President Bill Clinton in the various scandals which clouded his administration was not a good law and allowed it to end in 1999. However, President Bush should immediately ask the Attorney General to appoint a special outside counsel of impeccable reputation to conduct the investigation. Otherwise, no matter what the conclusion of the Department of Justice, unless it specifically condemns the President and his advisors, the PresidentÕs detractors will label the Justice DepartmentÕs report a cover-up and whitewash.

For his own protection from such attacks, the President should intervene immediately with such a demand for the appointment of a special counsel. In any event, Bob Novak who is often lionized by his fellow journalists should be publicly criticized by them for outing a CIA agent, and compelled by law enforcement authorities, if they cannot otherwise secure the names of NovakÕs informants from other sources, to himself divulge their names. The shield that many federal and state laws provide reporters from having to divulge their sources is usually available so long as the government can secure the needed information elsewhere for use in an ongoing criminal investigation. Where the government cannot, it is generally allowed to subpoena the reporter and demand he or she divulge the names to a grand jury.

Novak, by publishing PlameÕs name, may have endangered her life and the lives of her informants in other countries. He was asked by the CIA not to do so. In all events, he has ended PlameÕs career as a CIA covert agent. Only one reporter, so far as I know, Howard Kurtz, has criticized Novak for his having published PlameÕs name and role. Why are the other journalists and editorial writers silent? Almost every one of them has criticized the ÒBlue Wall of SilenceÓ when cops wrongly refuse to give evidence against another cop. This is an example of the maxim, Òit depends on whose ox is being gored.Ó

Journalists and the media in general are held in very low regard by the public. If they once again demonstrate they believe they are not subject to the same moral code of conduct they impose on all others, they will suffer the consequences and be held in even lower regard then currently.